DSCC ups time buy to $320k in Connecticut

By Maggie Haberman

09/11/12 11:46 AM EDT

Two sources tracking the Senate air war spending say the DSCC's independent expenditure has reserved $320,000 total for a week-long flight in Connecticut starting tomorrow and running through Sept. 18.

Observers on both sides have suggested in recent weeks that the race there between Republican Linda McMahon and Democratic Rep. Chris Murphy has evolved into one of the sleepers of the cycle, with a genuine tightening. Public polling has indicated that as well, although the race hasn't really arrived on the radar of what-to-watch-for nationally.

McMahon also got somewhat close to Richard Blumenthal in 2010, so there is a bit of a sense that we may have seen this movie before, and she still have the same flaws as a candidate she had last time - namely, a family business (the WWE) that is ripe for attack ads and mail.

But she's performing better, with a new team, and the fact that the DSCC is expending resources on behalf of Murphy, who has had a string of bad headlines about ethics lately, is notable.